RI, Malaysia to sign MoU on labor

JAKARTA: Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea said on Wednesday that Indonesia expected to agree to a Memorandum of Understanding on workers rights and obligations with Malaysia by the end of this month.

The agreement would consist of several issues, including the demand for Indonesian migrant workers by Malaysian industries and the workers' protection in the neighboring country.

Hary Setiawan Saleh, director general of population mobilization said Malaysia needed 150,000 more workers from Indonesia this year. Indonesia already has 60,000 documented workers there.

Of the remaining job opportunities in Malaysia, he said, the government would give priority to undocumented workers who had recently been deported, provided that they get all their papers in order. --JP